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Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said today that he expects plenty of support in Atlanta, where the Wolverines face Syracuse in the NCAA Final Four on Saturday.

“When it’s all said and done, we’re going to have a lot of maize and blue in Atlanta,” Brandon told WWJ-AM (950) this morning.

Brandon also doled out plenty of praise for the team and coach John Beilein, who has rebuilt the program and gotten Michigan to its first Final Four since 1993.

“I’m just so pleased and proud of our coaches and our kids,” Brandon said. “This was a big year for Michigan basketball. … This run that our men’s program is on is just very special. …

“He has done a remarkable job of building this program, literally, brick by brick.”

The praise didn’t stop there for Michigan, which upset No. 1 seed Kansas in the Sweet 16, then routed Florida on Sunday. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told ESPN that Michigan has gone from good to great, and the inspired play from big man Mitch McGary in the tournament will be tough to contend with.

“The biggest challenge with Michigan: They were a top-10 team all year, and their freshman center was just learning,” said Boeheim, who is 3-0 in the NCAA semifinals. “Now he’s there and at an unbelievable level. So that’s a big difference with their team.

“They have, arguably, the best point guard in the country in Trey Burke, and then for their center to be playing on this level makes them very, very difficult because they’ve gone from a top-10 team to a top-four team in the last two or three weeks -- and a very difficult offensive team to play against.”